“Civil Disobedience” was written in the mid-19th century, less than 100 years after the writing of the Constitution, yet Thoreau writes about a multitude of problems surrounding the functioning of the U.S. government. Do you believe that the problems that he wrote about in 1849 still exist today in the U.S. government? Why or why not?

Teaching Suggestion: Encourage students to make links with present day protests and critiques of the government, and to share personal experiences from their own life. Depending on the context and class level, this question may work well as an in-class discussion or debate.